


If the Shoe Doesn't Fit

by numberdance



Category: We Awaken
Genre: Ballet, Gen, Pointe shoe fittings are important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 04:50:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12124884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/numberdance/pseuds/numberdance
Summary: Victoria rehearses a solo for another student, hoping for advice. She gets it, but not only about her dancing.





	If the Shoe Doesn't Fit

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of different things in _We Awaken_ made me pretty sure Victoria was wearing pointe shoes that didn't fit her properly. A lot of the narratives around pointe can make it hard to figure out that anything in that situation is wrong at all. I desperately wanted to reach into the book and drag Victoria to a pointe shoe fitting, so I guess this is me doing that?

When Victoria finished running through the piece, she looked down at her feet and grimaced. Tina tilted her head, her brow furrowing. "Victoria? Everything okay?"

Victoria shrugged. "Just my feet. How was it?"

"I... would rather talk about your feet, actually, girl." Tina chewed her lip. "You warmed up a bit, and then danced that, right. Nothing else today?"

Victoria nodded slowly, and Tina came over to her and sat on the floor, motioning for Victoria to do so as well. "Take off your shoes," Tina said. "Pretty sure they don't fit you."

"This is the only style I've ever worn," Victoria told her, untying the ribbons on her right shoe first.

Tina snorted. "You were how old? Ten, eleven, twelve, somewhere in there?"

"Eleven."

"Yeah, okay. Your feet weren't done growing. You've gone up in size, I assume," and at this Victoria nodded, "but as your feet grow, they can need different things, different kinds of shoes. Your feet are probably settled now, but it doesn't sound like you've had a proper fitting since your first pair, if even then."

Victoria had pulled off both shoes; she handed them to Tina to study. "It's supposed to hurt, though."

"Not like that, it's not. You wear the right shoes, figure out what kind of taping or padding works for you, what kind of foot care you need to do, for most people it won't be constant pain." Tina looked up sharply at Victoria. "Pain is something we live with as dancers, yeah. We may not have too many days without it. But giving yourself a quick barre and then dancing for two minutes? You shouldn't want to be off pointe after that." Tina shook her head. "You need a real fitting, hon."

Victoria stared at her shoes in Tina's hands for a moment and then looked up at the older student. "So I just... go to a dance store?"

"Make an appointment, and for this I'd choose one of the brand specific ones, yeah," Tina said, putting the shoes down beside them. "They'll know their shoes, know how to fit you."

"But won't that limit my options?"

"It does somewhat," Tina admitted, "but in my opinion it puts you in more expert hands, and most brands have a pretty wide variety of shoes." Tina tapped Victoria's tights-covered foot with her hip hop sneaker. "I'll even go with you, if you want."

Victoria swallowed. "I'd like that. Thank you."

"Now, about that solo."


End file.
